Sacrifice
by Demigoth C. Emo
Summary: Set after the episode "Parasitica". Mikey hasn't been acting like himself lately and Raph had enough of it. Little did he know that this might be one conversation they wouldn't forget. Oneshot. WARNING: Fan-made lines and fan-made scenes.


**Sacrifice  
Summary: Set after the episode "Parasitica". Mikey hasn't been acting like himself lately and Raph had enough of it. Little did he know that this might be one conversation they wouldn't forget.**

* * *

**A/N: I know Parasitica has not been aired but unfortunately, a guy or two said that parasitica DID air on UK. Watch out UK, I'll get you...  
So yeah, i'm just going to...you know...make the lines closest to the original ones. If Nick blows this, I'll slice their heads off...**

**One more thing, I read a tumblr one-shot called "Innocent Eyes" (i think...). So this inspired to do a fan-made aftermath. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own TMNT.**

**What I'm expecting in Parasitica:  
-Mikey getting beaten up by his brothers  
-Splinter and Mikey one-on-one conversation (come on, we barely got that)  
-Jewis to appear (if they had a connection in the past and Jewis lost control back then, time to flip to "Simon and Marcy")  
-Mikey riding the ninja stealth bike (he hasn't rode it but...)  
-Mikey getting electrical shock (of all brothers, he never did)  
-Tears...Mikey tears (yeah, i would die to see Mikey crying Everyone: ... Me: What? I'm a Higurashi fan. I'm dying to see Mikey crying.)  
-Mutagen Man NEVER to appear in this episode (i hate him...)  
-To be the most epic one ever.**

* * *

It was an experience they never forgot. Surely even, all of them would regret at screaming in front of their little brother. They would even regret telling him to grow up. But what have they done to their little brother? They got controlled and attacked their brother. But Mikey successfully got them out of control and save them. He even told April for her to bring the turtles back to the lair for some unfinished business. Master Splinter came in and made sure they were okay. After a day passed, Mikey was found, unconscious and hurt. But that was three days ago. Three days for worrying. Three days that seemed like an eternity. Three days of begging Mikey to wake up. Three days to make sure Mikey is not dead. Most of all, three days of rain in New York.

Sure enough, it was raining in New York. Posters about April O'Neil being missing flew along New York City. Each day, he aunt became worried that she had tears twenty-four hours a day. She wondered how Kirby is going to react. Did she fail him? No. She promised to his brother that April will come back by the time Kirby has returned. But after a month passed, her aunt might think that April will never come back. She thought that April is having the same fate her brother has. Sure enough, she spent her days staring at the television like a hawk.

But April has been far more worse. Sure she did sprain her ankle but she was more concerned about Mikey. How could he get poisoned by some mysterious gas that makes people mysteriously go into a coma? Mikey risked his life to save theirs and she never wanted that to happen. Mikey was the youngest. The child of the team and the baby brother. He was the one who brought smiles. He made them turn their frowns upside down. With Mikey around. the family was totally compete. But seeing Mikey into a strange coma, gray clouds surrounded the lair, waiting for the sun to come up and shine again. But what's taking him so long?

Unfortunately, his brothers were the worst to cope with this path. Tears would fall every time they saw Mikey. They tried to do anything to keep their minds from him. But nothing was working. They felt a seed of guilt inside their heart. Each day when a seed would drop to the ground, they would grow with sunlight, water, good soil and air. As long as those conditions would stay, the plant will grow into a tree. A majestic one with many uses like fruits. It was the same for them. The needs for the seed of guilt are tears and pain inside the heart. Each day, it would multiply twice. So now, the guilt plant turned into a tree, rewarding it with worry, concern and pain as the fruit. The roots of pain gre deeper inside the heart, making their pain worse. But it was like sensei said:

_"It is up to your brother's strength now, my sons."_

They hoped one day that Mikey would wake up for the tree of guilt to die. They hoped that the grey clouds would be washed off by the sun. They hope that Mikey is safe from harm. And most of all, they wished for Mikey to make this out. Alive. They wished that Mikey would forgive them and would start all over again like a new world has been born. They just wish that Mikey would have enough strength to wake up from this mysterious coma.

And sure enough, he did.

The grey clouds were wiped off and the sun came back. When he woke up, the lair was filled with happiness once again like none of this ever happened. There were smiles, shrill of happiness, tears and excitement. Mikey forgave them and his brothers smiled. Now the only thing left was for Mikey to heal so all would be back to normal. At last, the three days that felt like an eternity came to an end. It was a new day. A new sunrise. A new sun. A fresh start and a new life to live. His older brothers had promised to kill the villain who dared put their baby brother to this fate. Meanwhile, after waking up, Mikey came back to normal once again...

...or did he?

That's what came to Raph's thoughts. Ever since Mikey woke up, he has not been acting to himself lately. He knows this yet the rest were completely oblivious about this. Ever his father was totally oblivious about this. He just wondered why. But right now, he remembered a trace of memory he remembered...

* * *

_'Give us the child.'_

_That was in his thoughts. He's controlled by the wasp and it demanded him to bring Michelangelo to it. He tried to fight back but the control was far more worse. He closed his eyes, pounding the road as the rain came down._

_'Give us the child.'_

_No. Not Mikey. He must be the child the wasp was talking about. Raph tried to find strength to fight back but the wasp was stronger. But he held his head and rolled around. This is getting painful but the minute passed._

_"NO!"_

_Raph fought back once the antidote spilled on Raph. Among the turtles, he was the last one to get the antidote. He shook his head and found Mikey, grabbing his hand in front of him. Raph grabbed the hand and hugged him. In return, Mikey hugged him and smiled._

_"This is not over yet!"_

_The wasp came forth in person, landing near the group. They trembled and tried to protect Mikey from the wasp._

_"You're not taking him!"Leo exclaimed, bringing out his katana blades. Raph got his sais and Donnie got his bo staff. Mikey gasped. He might ruin the chance to protect his brothers. No. He needs to protect them in return. _

_For the first time, Mikey felt pretty mad._

_"April, bring them to the lair. This is my fight."Mikey said._

_"But Mikey..."April felt the tears on her face. She doesn't want to lose her friends like she did in her former school. She didn't want to lose her friends. Now, she didn't want to lose him for the older brothers' sake._

_"Please April. Please save my one chance. Please...this is my fight. I deserve this battle. Not them."_

_Mikey felt the tears on his face. It was hard but if it is for that one chance for his brothers calling him a burden, it was worth a shot. They felt the agony inside of them upon hearing the words. They still wanted to protect him for yelling at them. They deserve this. No. Mikey needs this._

_"Okay."April said._

_Mikey pushed Leo and Raph's arm to exit their circle._

_"This is our fight. You want me, don't you? Take me and they'll go."Mikey said. His brothers gasped upon hearing those words. They hugged Mikey. Tight. They cried. They don't want to lose him. The youngest. The sunshine of the family._

_"I know guys. But go home. Your father is waiting at your home. Go on."Mikey said._

_"But Mikey, he's your father..."Leo mumbled._

_"I'm no one. I'm just an idiot. They would say that I would run. But I would not run. I'm just a being who's trying to find one world with happiness in it. I wanted it to end it quickly. But I can't. Without my prayers fulfilled no matter how I pray, the murmuring voice disappears in the cicada-sounding shower. How many times have I been torn and shredded apart, I wonder? Has hope turned into despair, I wonder? I promise to become strong the very next time around. So now I grip my hands...The signal of the opening echoes again; I dance the repetition helplessly. A story that composes this world; the finale is only for you. I kept praying faintly. Simply, simply for happiness. Even if there aren't many futures remaining anymore, I want to protect the precious things to the end. For that, even the act of someone like me, I'll commit sins unhesitatingly and untiringly. I'm just...no one. So go. Go and save yourself."Mikey said._

_For the first thing, they never heard Mikey say something like that._

_"Let's go guys."April said, dragging the three older turtles to the lair. Mikey turned around, rubbing his right hand and using his left hand to wave goodbye._

_"Bye guys. I'm still hopeless..."_

* * *

Raph snapped out of trance, staring at the pizza. He looked at Mikey, eating with a happy face. It was adorable, as usual. But Raph can't help the feeling that Mikey is thinking of something that would make him very curious. Sure enough, he _is _too curious to find out what's going on him. He just needed to find out what.

Mikey stared at Raph's face, hinting that Raph maybe reading his thoughts. He sigh, staring at the pizza.

"Will I...?"

* * *

Raph can't take it anymore. For some reason, Mikey has been "pissing" him off. Raph couldn't stop thinking about Mikey's strange feeling. Heck, he couldn't even sleep until he knows what's going on. But why were the others (including Mikey) oblivious about it? Is Mikey really keeping a secret?

He tried to talk to Spike each day about Mikey's behavior. Spike only chewed as an answer.

Somehow, he needs someone to talk to who can respond back by an explanation. But how if everyone is oblivious about it?

Then he made a promise. He promised that he wouldn't be his normal self until Mikey spills the secret.

Sure enough, he wasn't the rebellious turtle anymore. He was completely unresponsive and silent. This time, his family worried about him and so was Mikey.

In training, Raph just shook his head and walked away.

"I think I'll go."Mikey said. He knew that he needs to tell his secret somehow. So what about Raph?

* * *

"Raph?"Mikey asked. "Are you in here?"

Mikey spotted a figure in front of him, looking down.

Mikey came closer to Raph and rocked his shoulder gently.

"Raph? Everything okay?"Mikey asked.

"Since when do you care?"Raph asked.

"Raph, please tell me what's wrong."Mikey said. Raph slapped Mikey. Mikey rubbed the cheek gently.

"If you tell me what's going on in that brain of yours, I might be able to answer your question. If not, you could just walk away."Raph mumbled.

"Okay...I'll say it."Mikey said. Raph looked at Mikey, surprised.

"About time."Raph mumbled, hugging Mikey's neck with one arm. Mikey sigh.

"Promise not to tell."Mikey mumbled.

"Alright."Raph said.

"Remember that wasp incident?"Mikey asked. Why did Mikey bring up that topic? This made Raph astonish.

"W-what?"Raph asked.

"The one when you and the others were controlled?"Mikey asked.

Raph nodded.

"It made me thinking about this all along. If we face Shredder one last time, I made a vow. I promised to die first for your own lives. Even if it is the last world, I still need to for your own sake. But even risking that last world is risky. So that's why I've thought if it's the right thing to do. I don't know. But I know that if anyone would risk one's life, that would be me. I'm just a burden to you guys. I'm just one of them..."Mikey mumbled.

Raph pulled him to a tight hug, letting the tears flow.

"Mikey, are you serious?"Raph asked.

Mikey nodded.

"Mikey, we wouldn't let you risk our lives for ours. You're our responsibility and it is our job to keep you safe. Why do you think it was hard for us to let you go days ago? We tried but...you told April to take us home. Why?"Raph mumbled.

"I wanted to protect you guys. I never did repay you guys. Never. Countless of times, you protected me from all the monsters and beings in the shadows. I could even count them all and remember all of them for you. But did I ever repay you guys for what you did to me? Did I? That's all I wanted to do."Mikey asked.

"It's not like that, Mikey. You're the little one and you need to be protected. If anything, we should risk our lives. We don't want you to end your life like this, Mikey. Remember that. No matter what happens, we will protect you, Mikey. Even at all costs. Even if we have to surrender, we'll protect you. And as for Shredder, we'll make sure that we still have enough Shredders to destroy. But Mikey, promise me one thing."

"What is it?"Mikey asked.

Raph hugged him tighter.

"No matter what happens, Mikey, we'll protect you at all costs. We don't want you to see you like this at your end."

"But can't little ones protect big ones?"Mikey asked.

"I thnk not."Raph said, smiling and kissing Mikey's forehead.

Then he left.

"No matter what happens, Raph..."

The sun settled down, trying to prepare for the moon's appearance once again. The city grew quieter every minute.

"...I promise to die first at all costs. Even though you don't want to, I promise."

The cicadas in his head chirped louder.

"Will this fate be defeated?"

The cicadas chriped louder as Mikey left. He went to topside and looked at the moon. It sparkled his eyes upon looking at it. The hot wind blew as summer finally approached. That poster of a missing April flew to him. Then, a bond paper came in.

Getting out a pencil, he wrote:

* * *

_"Without my prayers fulfilled no matter how I pray  
The murmuring voice disappears in the cicada-sounding shower_

_How many times have I been torn and shredded apart, I wonder  
Has hope turned into into despair, I wonder  
I promise to become strong the very next time around  
So now I grip my hands_

_The signal of the opening echoes again; I dance the repetition helplessly  
A story that composes this world; the finale is only for you_

_I'll keep praying faintly  
Simply, simply, for happiness_

_Even if there aren't many futures remaining anymore  
I want to protect the precious things to the end  
For that, even the act of defying god—  
I'll commit sins unhesitatingly and untiringly_

_Even if I'm ephemeral like the summer cicadas and I'm to die very soon  
I want you to laugh by my side; please give me bliss_

_Let's start it again  
So that I can surely hope for a happy ending this time  
And at least smile tenderly all the while  
Until the moment of the end..."_

* * *

**The end. Phew! That was a toughie to write. I had to eat dinner before my parents come home and it made me go on another track just in case this looks like a crack fic. Seriously, it's 8:24 in the evening.**

**So again, "Innocent Eyes" from a fanfic in tumblr and that song above made me inspire to write this. It's called "Dear You -Hope-" and its not mine.**

**So, did I do good? I'm just sleepy. Lol.**


End file.
